Bangkok.

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand, it has about 8´280925 million of people and Thailand has about 66´720153 million. This is a huge city with many things to do, places to visit and a great nightlife. There are old temples, palaces, great street food, markets and amazing hotels, restaurants and clubs. You can find 2 different sides, the crazy, busy and random Bangkok and also the posh and exclusive clubs and restaurants, hotels and sky bars, all in one city, mixed and crazy. I had the good luck to see a bit of Bangkok.   

I travelled from Lima, Perú to Sao Paulo, spent a night there and then flew to Johannesburg to connect with a flight to Bangkok. One month in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia was not enough, I could spent 3 or 4 months there.

I stayed on Sam Sem Road, very close to the touristy bit Khao San Road and 20 min, walking distance to the Chao Phraya river, Royal Palace, and the temples of Wat Arun and Wat Pho, some of the main tourist attractions. I stayed at Sam Sen Sam Place hostel, nice and quiet place, very clean and safe, the staff knows about every tourist attraction and have all the info ready for you. Great place to stay and plan a trip. Close to the hostel there are local bars and restaurants, also street food and markets.

Khao San Road is the touristy area, nice for party and meet people but I would recommend the street that is parallel to it, as there are better restaurants and bars, good food and is cheaper. A good place for a night out is The Club, great place for dance and meet people, entrance fee is 100 bahts and you get a beer. The street food here is great, try a Pad Thai or just the fried scorpions and worms. Around this area there are many small streets with restaurants, markets, local bars and street food, is a good place to go for a walk.

About the tourist attractions, I can recommend the budhist temples Wat Arun (built on the 17th century) and Wat Pho (1781 AD) with more than 1000 Budha images and the famous reclining Budha, both close to the area I stayed, both temples has great buildings, river views, Budhas, statues and nice architecture. This temples are located  next to Chao Phraya river. Entrance fee to Wat Arun is 50 bahts. And you have to take the boat to cross the river, that cost an extra  3 bahts. Wat Pho cost 100 bats to enter and is in the other side of the river of Wat Arun, so you can see both in one morning.

The Grand Palace (1782), located in the center of Bangkok,  is a beautiful complex with temples and statues, it has been the official residnce of the Kings since 1782 until 1925 but the Palace is still used for official events, you should visit this place and spend 2 or 3 hours there. Entrance fee cost 500 bahts. and you have to wear long pants and a shirt or t shirt. Here you can see the Emerald Budha palace as well.

If you want bars and party I will recommend Sukhumvit road, on this area there are loads of bars and shopping malls like Terminal 21. the club I want is called Level, its located on Soi 11, where all the best bars are located. Free entrance but drinks are expensive, like 200 bahts for a Tiger beer.

At the end of my trip I stayed in Silom, the business area, I decided to have my last night at Lebua hotel, got a room with a nice view and breakfast included. The service was amazing. They gave me a free upgrade to a river view room, including breakfast. After check out the people in reception let me put my bags at the storage and use the pool, sauna and gym. 

This hotel has a roof bar called Sky Bar and a restaurant called Sirocco, I went there, had a few drinks and met really nice people, the restaurant was really good as well, but is very expensive. They also have a bar called Breeze. On this hotel was filmed some scenes of the movie The Hangover 2, but is not allowed to take pictures on the famous areas.

Close to Lebua hotel, on Silom Road,  there is a Chinese restaurant called Magic Choo´s , great food and at 19.30 they open a small door and you can have access to one of the best bars on this area, the decoration is amazing, good drinks, music and sometimes the invite artists, make a reservation if you want to go on the weekend.

There are many tours you can do around Bangkok, like the Tiger Temple, The floating market and Ayutthaya historical park.

I didn’t want to visit the Tiger Temple as I heard they don’t treat well the animals and is more like a tourist show. The Floating market is just a tourist market as I heard, but somebody told me you can go early on your own and enjoy the local stuff. So I decided to visit Ayutthaya historical park, I booked a full day tour through the hotel and had a great time. We drove 2 hours to this city that was founded in 1350 and was the capital of the country until 1767 when was destroyed by the Burmese army. Some of the the  park sites are Wat Mahathat (with the Budha head on a tree), Wat Phra Ram, the Pagodas and the reclining Budha.  






Bangkok was a great place to start my trip, an amazing and crazy city full of culture and lot of things to do. It´s very easy to travel around Thailand and South East Asia from this city.